Number of meningitis cases rises to 27 and reaches London as public health alert issued

Want LBC stories before everyone else? Set us as your Preferred Source on Google

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed 27 cases have now been detected on Thursday, up from 20 yesterday.

Of these, 15 are laboratory cases, while the remaining 12 are under investigation.

Health chiefs have described the "explosive" outbreak as unprecedented and are urging health workers across England to watch for signs of infection after two people were confirmed dead from the disease.

Dr Anjan Ghosh, the county’s director of public health, was not able to confirm whether the deadly outbreak has been contained.

He said secondary transmissions need to be ruled out "before we can say it's definitely contained".

More than 6,500 students have now been given emergency antibiotics amid a race to vaccinate thousands more - with a fresh case being detected at a second Kent university.

Read More: More than 6,500 students given emergency antibiotics in deadly Kent meningitis outbreak

Read More: Meningitis moves fast. So does misinformation - but only one of them has a vaccine

The disease has now spread to London, with an animation and games school confirming that an individual attending its studios has been admitted to hospital after contracting meningitis, linked to the Kent outbreak.

In a statement on its website on Wednesday, Escape Studios said: “We have been made aware that an individual attending Escape Studios had been admitted to hospital after contracting meningitis.

“We understand that the individual is now recovering well and our student services team is offering support.

“This case is linked to the wider situation currently being managed in Kent.”

The school said it has been working closely with the UK Health Security Agency and local public health teams since being notified about the case.

In an update to its Meningitis B vaccination programme, the University of Kent also confirmed that 600 jabs had been given out to its students in one day.

The update added: "Students will need to return for a second dose in a minimum of four weeks' time".

Canterbury-Christ Church became the second university to confirm a detected case amid the outbreak.

Authorities believe the deadly outbreak first broke out at Club Chemistry, a nightclub in Canterbury.

According to the latest available figures, England recorded a total of 378 cases between July 2024 and June 2025 by comparison.

In an update to its Meningitis B vaccination programme, the university also confirmed yesterday that 600 jabs had been given out to its students in one day.

The update added: "Students will need to return for a second dose in a minimum of four weeks' time".

"At the moment, the vaccine is only for University of Kent students living in accommodation on the Canterbury campus," the statement reads.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has visited the University of Kent following the outbreak.

The Cabinet member visited the sport centre on Thursday morning where hundreds of students have queued up to receive vaccines and collect antibiotics.

Speaking after receiving the menB vaccine at the University of Kent on Thursday, Paris Summer, a psychology student from Twickenham, claimed health officials had been too slow to raise the alarm.

The 22-year-old said: “They just don’t really seem very prepared. I feel like, surely, they knew before someone actually ended up passing away. I feel like we could have found out a lot sooner.”

Aarohi Gupta, a 21-year-old economics student from High Wycombe, said: “It was very scary, very worrying. Obviously, we didn’t really know what to do.

“And the uni hadn’t really told us much. So, I think that was extra concerning.“We found out when the rest of the public did.”

A computer science student at the University of Kent who gave her name only as Tumi, 20, said she decided not to return home to guard against spreading the outbreak.

She said: “I think if everyone leaves you kind of, if you’re carrying it, you don’t know, then you take it to your hometown.“I just don’t think it’s quite safe, so I’ve just decided to stay here.”

Professor Robin May, UKHSA's chief scientific officer, described the outbreak as “very unusual”.

“I would say in outbreaks like this, you would typically expect a small increase in numbers still to go so I suspect that number will go up slightly,” Prof May said:.

He added: “Typically, you would expect to see sporadic cases of meningitis, typically individual patients.

“Most days, actually, we would see one in the UK. This is obviously a much larger number.

“What is particularly remarkable about this case, and unexpected about this case, is the large number of cases all originating from what seems to be a single event.

“There are two possible reasons for that. One is that there might be something about the kind of behaviours that individual people are doing.

“The other possibility is the bacteria itself may have evolved to be better at transmitting.”

Tributes have flooded in for A-level student Juliette, whose parents requested that her surname not be reported, after she was confirmed to be one of those who died.

The 18-year-old pupil at a Faversham grammar school was described as "happy and caring" by her bereaved parents.

A 21-year-old student from the University of Kent was also killed by the disease but has not yet been publicly identified.

A number of those who have fallen ill have been placed into medically induced comas, LBC understands.